ewis Deathstalker, descendant of the legendary Owen Deathstalker, flees the Empire's capital, Logres, after his rival, Finn Durandal, attempts to have him murdered. With him are his lover, Jesamine Flowers, who is also an actress and fiancee of Lewis's friend, King Douglas, and three criminals originally hired by Finn, gladiator Rose Constantine, con man Brett Random and a reptiloid assassin named Saturday. Finn is maneuvering to seize political control of the Empire, and when Lewis escapes Finn declares him to be an outlaw and traitor. With Parliament increasingly under Finn's control, and Lewis gone, King Douglas now has no reliable allies to protect him from Finn's ambitions.
Meanwhile, the Empire's Golden Age faces an external threat as well—the Terror, a mysterious entity approaching the outskirts of the Empire that destroys all life on a planet almost instantly. According to legend, Owen, who disappeared 200 years ago, will return to defeat the Terror, but no one knows exactly what happened to Owen, nor whether he is still alive. Lewis believes he must find Owen to save the Empire from both threats. He and his companions set off on a quest to find his ancestor, pursued relentlessly by Finn's troops.
Back on Logres, Finn clones James, the deceased older brother of King Douglas, as a potential replacement on the throne, concocting an explanation for the masses that James didn't really die in an accident years ago but has been kept prisoner by his father, King William. William is arrested and held at the family estate. Finn uses this leverage to gain control of more factions and institutions, further isolate Douglas and bring an end to the Golden Age.
Lewis and his companions travel from planet to planet, meeting many of the legends that fought with Owen. Everywhere, the clues to Owen's fate point to the planet Haden and its feared Madness Maze, an alien artifact that kills most who enter and changes forever the few survivors. And the Maze is something Finn also wants to control.
Superior space opera in its purest form
Deathstalker Return, the latest novel in Simon R. Green's Deathstalker series, is an entertaining novel filled with action, political intrigue and humor. In the guise of classic space opera, Green creates a complex universe with a rich history and sociological foundation. Much of the background is inspired and enriched by Green's British heritage, featuring, among other things, echoes of Arthuriana and Scottish clan traditions. While such inspirations don't add up to a particularly original plot, Green does weave them together seamlessly into a universe that makes sense, even with all its wonderfully strange, distinct worlds, aliens, robots, humans natural and otherwise, and even a few ghosts.
One thing Green does especially well, considering this book is part of a series, is fill in the back history without distracting from the current events. Readers new to the series will not have any problems following the narrative if they start here, even though there are preceding books. This is a particularly impressive achievement, because so much of the plot depends on past events.
Green is often genuinely witty, and uses the humor effectively as a break between action sequences, but he occasionally gets a little too playful with his prose when trying to be funny. Perhaps a bigger flaw with the humorous sequences is that Green uses them to define the supporting characters a little too often, especially Rose, Brett and Saturday, and they seem more like caricatures than people essential to the story.
Despite these few minor flaws, this novel is a lot of fun to read. While it might lack thematic and literary ambition, it doesn't pretend to be anything more than what it is—pure entertainment. And readers can look forward to more, as this novel closes with an intriguing ending that obviously requires another sequel to finish the story.
